use real butter

Recipe: baked pumpkin doughnuts

It’s that time again! People are traveling, buying groceries, preparing for The Big Dinner this Thursday – Thanksgiving. I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what we’re going to eat on Thanksgiving Day mainly because our schedule is rather dynamic this week. What I CAN tell you is that we’ve been having healthy servings of skiing for the last few days (and hopefully the next several months). It’s been DELICIOUS.

opening day at eldora

a little backcountry in crested butte

plenty of stream crossings

We are in Crested Butte, taking care of a few house things and enjoying this version of November much more than the Front Range version of November. Despite it being early season, there has been a good bit of snowfall and stormy weather. Crested Butte has always charmed me in summer and fall, but it really is a true gem in winter.

starting to look a lot like… ski season!

crested butte, wreathed in clouds

And while we’re on the topic of the goodness of the season, let me get those doughnut pans out once again. They’re so much easier and less messy than fried doughnuts that I’m a little smitten with the whole idea of baked doughnuts. The first batch I tried was chocolate doughnuts with chocolate glaze because that’s what Jeremy loves most. This time, I made baked pumpkin doughnuts, because I love (real) pumpkin and Jeremy was out of town on travel.

butter the pans

olive oil, vanilla, applesauce, flour, sugar, pumpkin purée, salt, baking powder, eggs, ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, ground allspice, ground ginger, ground cloves

mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together

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Recipe: cranberry pâte de fruits

A few weeks ago, I was picking up product from Robin Chocolates for a shoot. Whenever I go into the production room, Robin offers me samples of her latest masterpiece confections and I usually decline or ask to cut a tiny corner to taste. She always gives me this grin and announces to everyone, “Oh yeah, Jen doesn’t like chocolate!” I’m pretty sure Robin finds this both confounding and mildly amusing, but then she’ll grab a little bag and fill it with goodies for me to take to Jeremy (who is a chocolate fiend). This time, I tried the cranberry pâte de fruit with vodka-and-lime-soaked cranberry ganache, because I’m a sucker for fruit. “Robin, this is amazing,” I muttered into the air while I tried to spread all of the flavors out in my mouth to taste each and every one. I made a mental note that I needed to get in on that cranberry pâte de fruit action.

sugar, cranberries, water, lemon, liquid pectin

line a square pan with parchment paper

then line with another piece of parchment perpendicular to the first to cover the edges

The recipe I used looked so easy… too easy. A short list of ingredients and a few minutes of bubble time on the stove was most of the work. Sadly, my first batch never set and wound up becoming a sort of cranberry spread to distribute among willing recipients. It tasted great, but it was too runny to hold a shape. I really hate when a recipe doesn’t work – especially when I drop a pretty penny on something like organic cranberries. A little research on other pâte de fruits recipes identified the problem.

slice lemon and remove seeds

place cranberries and lemon in a food processor

add water

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Recipe: pistachio rolled baklava

I’ve been so wrapped up with work the past few weeks that I kept missing sunsets and sunrises, except to notice that I missed them. While I walked Kaweah Monday evening, I had one eye on the dog and another eye on the sky. A few clouds overhead began to tint gold as we walked back to the house and I got antsy. Potentially good colors. “Come on, little girl. We need to get moving.” But Kaweah was intent on sniffing every single twig, pine cone, and rock for at least ten seconds apiece. I glanced up and noted that the yellow had become intense with hints of orange. Looking further east, the clouds were orange and pink. I placed my hand on Kaweah’s side and tried gently guiding her in the direction of the house only to have her take interest in the next rock. Determined not to miss yet another sunset, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her across the yard into the house. “I’ll make it up to you with unlimited sniffing tomorrow,” I said, patting her belly as I set her down at the door.

i got my sunset

It’s easy to get sucked into work. Too easy. And that usually comes at the expense of other things. I got together with a bunch of girlfriends for a potluck this past weekend and realized that I hadn’t seen most of them in over a year. But I’m so glad I went because it was nice to just chill out, cook, and talk. I watched my friend’s son playing in the yard while we adults ate lunch on the patio. That carefree kind of play. I think carefree play has been missing from my life these days. Gotta fix that.

the joys of sweet youth

The dish I brought to the potluck was a dessert. Actually, I brought two desserts – some huckleberry ice cream and baklava. Baklava, I can make in my sleep. I’ve been making it since fourth grade which is… a long time. This time, the same old baklava just didn’t appeal to me, so I tried to mix it up a little.

butter, phyllo dough, sugar, pistachios, orange blossom water, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, extra pistachios

place the pistachios, spices, sugar, and orange blossom water in a food processor

pulse it to coarse sand texture

Pistachios cost much more than walnuts, but they are worth it. They are treasured for the gorgeous green color as much as for the flavor. I used organic raw unsalted pistachios to get the best results and added cardamom, nutmeg, and orange blossom water to the usual cinnamon. The motivation was that these additional flavors would complement the pistachios.

keep the phyllo sheets under a damp towel

brush butter on one half of a sheet

fold the sheet in half and butter the top

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